Browse Career Advice Articles

The percentage of women in law enforcement is hovering under 15 percent, according to the National Center for Women & Policing, and it's not increasing. Here's straight talk from current and former female police officers as to why we'd all be better off if that percentage rose, what's been holding the numbers down and which women are needed to fill the ...

There’s a big issue in police work that’s generally ignored but that we all know exists. Oh, we talk about it alright, although not so much in mixed company, but we sure don’t write about it. In fact, I can’t believe I’m even bringing it up, but it’s something that rookies need to know about and veterans have all agonized over. ...

While crime has gone down, according to published crime statistics, incidents involving assaults and worse on crime fighters are still prevalent. Luckily, in the face of all the danger, law enforcers have not backed down and continue to honor their oath and their mission. But what of incidents that occur when you are off duty. The question comes up regarding off-duty ...

“That’s the way we’ve always done it” It's an all too common answer to a rookie officer’s inquiries about policy, procedure, and unfortunately, even officer survival. An “artifact” is defined by Webster’s as “something in a biological specimen that is not present naturally but has been introduced or produced during a procedure,” and we have plenty of artifacts in police work ...

Are you serious about your officer safety and survival? No really, are you? We all read the officer killed summaries, lament the tragic circumstances, vow “that will never happen to me” and then within a week or two we often go right back to work and engage in the same habits and tactics that have always allowed us to “get by.” ...

Every television channel has an old, new or syndicated police drama airing sometime, somewhere. The public has a certain romance with law enforcement and why shouldn’t they? Hollywood and their rating systems have cashed in on white toothy smiles, good looking actors and actresses, witty dialogue, fancy suits, and the ability to efficiently wrap up the most difficult crimes in fifty ...

As the economic crisis for local government has deepened over the past few years, so too has the belt been tightened at law enforcement agencies. Once a seller’s market, the crime fighter hiring endeavor has morphed into a buyer’s market. Many police departments and sheriff’s offices have found that, in the event that they are able to hire, they have the ...

When you began your law enforcement career, your organization sent you to a training academy and then, likely, provided you with a field training officer or senior officer with whom to work. However, when you promote to sergeant, there is little training and nothing like the mentoring of a field training officer system. Moreover, the transition from police officer to sergeant ...

As you progress through your first few years as a patrol officer, what supervisors and other officers think of you - and say about you - will play a large part in determining your success. Professionally, these years are where you will call the most attention to yourself and establish your reputation. You will feel pressure to simply blend in with ...

Law enforcement folks love gadgets and the various accoutrements that go with the job. When I ran police academies in Ohio and Florida, police equipment catalogs littered the desks at lunchtime and cop supply websites were must reading among the cadets. Not surprisingly, conversations on breaks often revolved around the newest device or gadget. All aspiring and newly minted officers covet ...

“Garbage in, garbage out.” That old saying captures why the recruitment of quality people into law enforcement is so important. After all, all street-level law enforcers want their backup officer to be good at a complex and dangerous job. Now, that’s not to say that training doesn’t have its priority, but we all know marginal officers who’ve somehow slipped through the ...

1. Search Every Room We were serving a search warrant with tribal police on a residence on Indian Land. The house wasn’t too big and we had a CI’s sketch of the interior. I’ve never liked relying on the word of a strung out informant but the boss had faith in it. For some reason, because two agencies were involved, they ...

Allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct and excessive force have been the staple of sensational headlines and are made of the stuff that can be career ending even when proven untrue. While this article and writer absolutely condemn any kind of unethical or illegal sexually based conduct or excessive force by professional law enforcement personnel, some false claim situations do occur. Even ...

I get quite a few emails and letters from individuals across this country who are having difficulty getting hired as a police officer or deputy sheriff. While I can’t help those folks that are steeped in a history of drug use or felony arrests, many of the others can jum start their career by self-sponsoring through a basic law enforcement academy. ...

There are 1%ers, 5% ers, and there are 13% ers but in the law enforcement profession there are 10%ers. 10% ers are in every law enforcement agency and let us thank God that they are! 10% ers, for the purpose of this article, are those Cops (law enforcement officers) who truly make the streets safe for everyone else. 10%ers are the ...

Oftentimes what is more irritating and stressful to law enforcers than criminals is dealing with the brass and internal agency politics. Thought of as losing touch with the streets and “forgetting where they come from,” the corner office inhabitants of the upper echelons of the law enforcement agency can seem remote and uncaring. This article is designed to point out, or ...

There was a time when an eager officer longing for more training opportunities could blame the training request denial on not being one of the “golden children” of the administration in power. With the advent of the economic downturn and a new era for law enforcement budgeting, denials have become the norm, rather than the exception. Training for law enforcers has ...

Law enforcement officers have an uneasy relationship with the rest of society. The police subculture, dominated by social solidarity and isolation, serves not only as a protective shell against the harsh elements of our dangerous society, but it can breed deviant conformity if not checked by good recruitment, training, management, and early warning systems. With mass cop-killings and deadly assaults on ...

We all know the type in policing. The guy or gal who is never happy. They manage to find fault with the administration, the public, and even fellow crime fighters. It’s an “Us vs. Them” world in their eyes. In a nutshell, this frowny-faced person is a downer and could be crowned the king or queen of morale busting. They practice ...

2010 was a bad year for cops. 2011 hasn’t started out well either. I recently came across a startling anti-police blog that exclaimed, “2010 was the year of the riot and 2011 is set to be the year of the insurrection.” I’m not going to choke you with statistics because so much is already out there on the assaults and killings ...